The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger was Nazi Germany’s desperate last-ditch attempt to field a cheap, easily produced jet fighter in the closing months of World War II. Designed in a matter of weeks, it was meant to be the savior of the crumbling Luftwaffe, a mass-produced miracle piloted by barely trained teenagers. Instead, it became a symbol of the Reich’s technological ambition outstripped by harsh reality, a war machine built in frantic haste as Germany spiraled into defeat.